Good news

Daniel Johnston is home from hospital:

As recently as last week, family members were advised that Daniel would require long-term medical care and permanent dialysis for kidney failure. But early this week that prognosis changed drastically and the artist is now at home with functioning kidneys and a renewed zeal for pursuing his songwriting and art.

Family members describe the episode as a serious infection that caused kidney failure and resulted in dangerous distortion of prescription medications in his system. The infection proved to be highly resistant to antibiotics and prolonged the uncertainty of the cause and his recovery.

In the hospital, Daniel had a wall covered with cards, pictures, letters, and emails from supportive fans, which he reportedly packed up to take home with him on Friday. "I didn't know where I was or how I got there," Daniel is reported to say after weeks of semi-conscious state. "But this has happened to me plenty of times before".

This is a both a reference to memories of waking up in a mental institutions and that he sometimes wakes up in some part of the world performing on tour and is uncertain where he is, his brother explained.

On the ride home, Daniel was exuberant. "Hallelujah! Freedom! I feel like an escaped mental patient."